Industry News

What’s stopping the UK using more renewable energy?

Green Party invites Renewables’ industry leaders to discuss the future of delivering a sustainable energy policy for the common good.

Members of the UK’s renewables industry joined with key Green Party politicians, at The Cavendish Hotel, Central London to discuss the future of the UK’s energy policies. Thirty three industry leaders, including representatives of 4Navitas, Energy4 All, Good Energy, Ecotricity and RES, discussed the barriers that currently prevent the UK achieving a high level deployment of renewable energy and what can be done politically to overcome those barriers.

Green Party hosted the event, where up to 60 leaders of renewable energy around the UK sat on ‘discussion tables’ with Green Party politicians and leaders, to debate various types of renewable energy and the main barriers to their deployment.

Green Party leader, Natalie Bennett, said: “It was great to hear their enthusiasm for the possibilities of renewables, and disappointing, although not surprising, to hear how often government policy is a barrier to developing renewable energy. It is clear that we need a stable, sensible framework that doesn’t U-turn with the political winds.”

Green Party is reaching out to the renewable energy industry to open discussions with the sector and ask it what more can be done to help. It already has representation in Parliament and the House of Lords, and has overtaken the Liberal Democrats according to the latest Ashcroft Poll.

The appetite for renewables in the UK is ever growing. Green Party aims to ensure the government doesn’t baulk on its responsibilities and commits to being the ‘greenest government ever’.

Nina Skorupska, chief executive REA, and Maf Smith, chief executive RenewableUK, attended and discussedhow to maximise the use of renewables in the UK. The need for a robust grid system, energy storage and use of multiple forms of renewable energy was broadly agreed at the dinner.

Concepts from the use of biogas in grids and transport, through to advanced wave, tidal and offshore wind were discussed in detail, as was the nuclear vs renewables, debate. Another key message fed back from the dinner was the industry felt it had no voice in Parliament. Green Party intends to become the voice of the renewable industry in Parliament, and support renewables within government.

Phillip Wolfe, pioneer in Community Renewables & ex-chief exec REA, and Alan Simpson ex MP Nottingham South, and architect of the Feed-in Tariff scheme, ended the evening with a lecture looking at a the future for renewables and how communities can become owners of their energy means.